Signs of Safety

We’ve recently made a significant investment in implementing the Signs of Safety model into our practice. We’ve made major leaps forward, training hundreds of staff and practice leaders and we’ve been delighted with the passion and energy everyone has shown in putting Signs of Safety into practice. This is making a big difference in our everyday work, with great examples of best practice support for children and families, who are telling us that they now have a much better understanding of our role and the help we offer.

What is Signs of Safety?

Signs of Safety focuses on approaches to how social workers can build partnerships with parents and children in situations of suspected or substantiated child abuse whilst still dealing rigorously with the child protection/safeguarding issues.

​Practitioners supporting families work together to look at the strengths (what’s going well in the child’s life), the worries and concerns identified (who is worried and why) and focus on what needs to be done (outcomes) to build on the strengths, reduce the concerns and keep the child safe. This is known as a strengths and safety based approach.

​Signs of Safety expands on the investigation of risk to encompass strengths and signs of safety that can be built upon to stabilise and strengthen a child’s and family’s situation.

The approach is designed to help practitioners and families throughout the child protection process, whatever the setting (statutory, hospital, residential or treatment).